One day after Christmas, Pittsburgh and Toledo meet in Detroit in the GameAbove Sports Bowl hoping to put a bow on a 2024 season that began with bigger wishes.
The Panthers (7-5) were No. 18 in the initial 2024 College Football Playoff rankings on Nov. 5, three days after suffering their first loss at SMU. However, that 48-25 defeat to the Mustangs was the start of a five-game skid that ran the rest of the regular season.
Injuries plagued Pitt in November. Quarterback Eli Holstein missed the Nov. 16 game against Clemson after suffering a head injury the week prior in the loss to Virginia. The freshman returned to start against Louisville on Nov. 23, but he didn’t make it out of the first quarter after injuring his left ankle. That caused him to miss the last game against Boston College.
Several offensive line injuries also affected the team during the skid, and an undisclosed ailment kept Desmond Reid, the Panthers’ second-team All-American all-purpose back, out against Boston College.
“I would imagine on the 26th we’re going to be a heck of a lot healthier than we were coming out of that BC game,” coach Pat Narduzzi said to reporters during a press conference for the bowl earlier this month. “I promise you that.”
Narduzzi hopes Holstein can play. In 10 games, the signal caller completed nearly 62 percent of his throws for 2,228 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. It could become an issue since Nate Yarnell, who threw for 1,056 yards and 10 TDs with five picks, entered the transfer portal.
David Lynch, who threw just nine passes this season, would back up, the coach said.
Reid ran for 797 yards and four touchdowns and caught 47 passes for 564 yards and four scores. He also averaged 12.3 yards on a dozen punt returns, one of which was returned for a TD. Pitt also has an All-American on defense. Linebacker Kyle Louis registered 16 tackles for loss, including seven sacks. He also picked off four passes, scoring on one.
The Rockets (7-5), who ended the season with consecutive losses, are bowl bound for the fourth straight season.
Toledo sports the best passing attack in the Mid-American Conference, averaging 246.2 yards a game. Tucker Gleason threw for 2,457 yards and has a 22-to-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Jerjuan Newton caught 64 passes for 949 yards and a MAC-leading 11 scores. The defense, led by safety Maxen Hook (107 tackles, two interceptions), allows an average of five yards a play. That ranks 27th in the country.
Coach Jason Candle, who is one win away from matching Gary Pinkel for the most victories in school history (73), said at the press conference the game gives the seniors one last chance to celebrate their careers, many of which will end this week, while giving underclassmen additional practices that can pay off next season.
“This is a reward for having a great year,” the ninth-year coach said. “You want to finish it off the right way, and you want to do a great job of balancing what it looks like for the future of your program. I think if this is handled the right way, it kind of sets the culture and the tempo for what your offseason starting point is in January or February.”
–Field Level Media
